TOO DUMB TO BE SELF-GOVERNING: It happened so fast on todays Morning Joe that we didnt even have our tape running! Joe Scarborough showed a large, tabloid photo of Hillary Clinton with fund-raiser Norman Hsu— and he said that her rival Democratic campaigns have been urging him to push the story. And just like that, his co-host for the week, Ana Marie Cox, said that Hsu funneled money to the Paw family, of Daly City. (Sorry— we cant offer quotes.) She stated it without qualification, as if it were an established fact. It was left to Scarboroughs second co-host, the alert Tamron Hall, to say the offense was alleged. (See THE DAILY HOWLER, 8/29/07, for our earlier account of this matter.)

But so it goes when mainstream journos recite the scripts on which theyve fed. It turns out that Hsu— who has contributed to many Big Dems— faces an outstanding arrest warrant, stemming from a 1991 incident. Many Dems, including Clinton, are returning the money theyve accepted from Hsu. But the relentless hoaxing of the past fifteen years was reflected midway through this front-page New York Times report, written by Mike McIntire. Omigod! Once their hoaxed-up tales gain traction, their hoaxed-up tales never die:

MCINTIRE (8/30/07): Some Clinton donors said yesterday that they did not expect the Hsu matter to hurt Mrs. Clinton unless a pattern of problematic fund-raising or compromised donors emerged, which would raise questions about the campaign's vetting of donors. Mr. Hsu's legal problems were first reported yesterday by The Los Angeles Times; The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday about his bundling of questionable contributions.

''Everyone is trying to make the implications that it's Chinese money, that it's the Al Gore thing all over again, but I haven't seen any proof of that,'' said John A. Catsimatidis, a leading donor and fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton in New York.

The Al Gore thing all over again! Hoaxed-up slander fuels our discourse as oxygen drives the way we breathe. But make no mistake— McIntire reported the same thing Scarborough did. Clintons opponents have been pushing the Hsu story, hoping that new/improved tales of Dem character problems can help them achieve nomination. Scarborough specifically said that these were Democratic opponents. McIntire did not.

To tell you the truth, we wasted our time a bit today, developing some of these points a bit further. But at some point, weve pretty much come to see that our liberal/Dem side is simply ineducable when it comes to the pimping of dumb, hoaxed-up tales. We used to do a humor segment on WBAL radio, here in Baltimore; some mornings, we would refer to something we called The Too Dumb to be Self-Governing File. (One example: A Texas gubernatorial candidate unveiled his ten-point education plan— and it had only nine points.) Too Dumb to be Self-Governing! The phrase has cruised our brain in the past few days as weve watched Dems pimp RNC tales.

The other side is full of idiots— but at least they push their own sides hoaxes! Sadly, we love to pimp their hoaxes too. So what does that say about us?